Cori Bush: Troy Nehl’s Attacks Were ‘Anti-Black, Racist Tropes,’ ‘Sexist’

Reid: “Thank you so much for being here, congresswoman. Let’s talk about this for just a moment. I want to start with the fact that the independent congressional ethics office cleared this matter. How did it then proceed to an investigation by the DoJ?”
BUSH: “So, what happened was, there is someone who made a complaint. They sent the complaint, I believe, to the FEC, which — that moves really slowly, is what I hear. And so, because, you know, nothing had happened, they didn’t see any movement, they decided — and there are articles about it — they decided, ‘Hey, I want the DoJ, I want House Ethics, I want all of these different entities to investigate now.’ So they did at one time, just asked all of these different entities to investigate.”
Reid: “So these agencies are obliging a complaint?”
BUSH: “Yes.”
Reid: “So let’s talk about your husband. Your husband is named Cortney Merritts, he’s a military veteran.
BUSH: “Yes.”
Reid: “Why was he the choice that you made in terms of your personal security?”
BUSH: “So, what was happening, there were a lot of issues with us retaining just good staff. What was happening, we had — you know, we couldn’t pay the big cost for security like some of my colleagues are able to do. And so, we went with what we could afford. It worked out for a while, but then we started having call-offs, you know, people just not showing up to work, people sleeping on the job. And so it was very hard for me to have security when it was unreliable. And so what was happening was, Cortney would fill in, he would volunteer, and sometimes he would even — you know, even when he was there and they were working, he would say, ‘Hey, you should be standing over here and doing that.’ He was volunteering a lot of his time. And then we had someone who was kind of leading the group, leading the team, who could no longer do it, one day just called and said, ‘I won’t be back for three months.’ It left me in a position, there was no way I could manage a security team plus the work that I was doing, so he was able to pick up that slack. And not only was he able to pick it up, he could handle all of it. I mean, he was air assault soldier in 101st Airborne. He had already worked for other companies working security, even as a supervisor, so this was in his lane.”
Reid: “In his toolhouse.”
BUSH: “Yes.”
Reid: “And obviously somebody you trust. I mean, you are someone who has had a lot of threats. Obviously, you are very high-profile, Black Lives Matter activist-turned-congresswoman. Talk about some of the sort of atmospherics around you.”
BUSH: “Yeah, So, prior to me entering Congress, I had had a lot of threats on my life. I had even had times where there were actual attempts made, and I went to social media to talk about them because I did not feel safe going anywhere else so I would talk about what was happening to me on social media, even turn it into the FBI at one point, just making a document that there were actual threats on my life, attempts on my life. But even before I entered Congress, during orientation, I went to the House and talked about, like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m experiencing now. Is there a way for you to keep me safe in Congress?’”
Reid: “And there are some members of Congress who are independently wealthy. Are you one of them?”
BUSH: “No, I am not.”
Reid: “And that is the reason that you’re trying to figure out how to pay for it.”
BUSH: “Yes.”
Reid: “Now, look, I do want to play for you — and I apologize for making you have to listen to it — I’m sure you’ve listened to it before because I know you responded on social media to it. This is Congressman Troy Nehls of Texas. This is what he had to say about this situation and you. Take a listen.”

[Clip starts]
NEHLS: “She doesn’t even support the police. But the idea to pay her thug money to try to help protect her? For what? Maybe if she wouldn’t be so loud all the time, maybe she wouldn’t be getting threats.”
Reporter: “Are you saying she deserves to get threats?
NEHLS: “No, what I’m saying is, is that when you are out there talking the way she does, I’m surprised that people are probably pretty upset because she’s pretty radical. She’s pretty radical. And maybe she should tone it down a little bit.”
[Clip ends]

Reid: “I will just let you respond.”
BUSH: “Absolutely ignorant, anti-black, racist and sexist tropes by a sitting member of Congress who was a colleague — I had never even met this person. You know, I never even talked to him. And for him to spew something so disgusting, number one, to call my husband my thug? What qualifies him as a thug? What does he know about him to call him a thug? You know, that is a dog whistle. And then also to tell me that I am being too loud? Me advocating for St. Louis is I’m being too loud? How about if you could fix the issues of St. Louis has, I wouldn’t have to talk about it, I wouldn’t have to fuss about it. But yes, I’m going to be loud. That’s okay. If I want to be loud, if I want to be quiet, that’s my prerogative. He, you know, him putting his mouth on it just shows his, you know, racism at its best from Congress.”